Voting members of Colorado’s Republican Party are serious about booting chairman Dave Williams from his post, having submitted a petition with 113 signatures to call a special meeting and cast their ballots on the matter.
El Paso County’s Vice Chair Todd Watkins told Colorado Politics they’re giving Williams 10 days to call a meeting or the state’s central committee will call it themselves.
They will need 60% of the central committee’s vote to oust Williams. There are about 440 voting members, and it’s a gamble how many would show up for a hastily called meeting.
Williams hasn’t been heard from since the bitter written statement he issued election night after losing the congressional race in the 4th District to Jeff Crank.
Of the 18 candidates endorsed by Williams on behalf of the party, 14 lost.
Williams’ bad judgement, abuse of party funds, selfishness and sanctimonious behavior has only escalated since he took the helm of the Colorado GOP last year.
The final straw for many members came when the party broke with tradition and issued questionable endorsements of candidates who were overwhelmingly unelectable.
And then Election Day came, and the vast majority were in fact not elected.
From Colorado Politics:
Among the reasons Republicans cite, (Watkins) said, are Williams’ refusal to step aside as party chairman when he declared his congressional candidacy and the party’s decision to take sides in contested primaries this year, throwing its tradition of neutrality out the window.
“They didn’t just endorse people,” Watkins said, noting that Williams and his cohorts, including state vice chair Hope Sheppelmann and party secretary Anna Ferguson, openly attacked Republican candidates in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary.
The media drumbeat for Williams’ ouster followed on the heels of a mailer telling party members to burn pride flags this month.
It was over the top, even for Republicans who disagree with the over-sexualization of young kids and the gender trend.
There’s no doubt that a laundry list of transgressions follows in Williams’ wake.
But central committee members should ask themselves before voting, and there will be a vote: Is Williams the best person they have to offer to restore the state party’s reputation and elect the Republicans he failed to endorse in November?